The space for dissent has been shrinking steadily under the predatory-capital-friendly government in Kerala. The police has been smelling the presence of ‘Maoists’ and ‘Islamic terrorists’ in strategic parts of the state; though hard evidence for the presence of such forces is almost entirely lacking, this move is surely not unexpected. There has been a spurt in the number of arrests under the UAPA. In the bargain, all expressions of protest against the suppression of human rights may be interpreted as ‘unlawful’ and ‘obstructive’. The following is a petition signed by prominent persons in film and media protesting against the most recent instance of the ongoing repression.
Petition to the Chief Minister, Kerala
We the undersigned strongly condemn the blatant attempt by the Kerala police to intimidate five colleagues from the field of film and media by filing fabricated cases against them for ‘rioting’, ‘unlawful assembly’ and ‘public obstruction’ (IPC Sections 143, 147, 149 and 283 ). These five individuals- K.P.Sasi, noted filmmaker and activist, I. Shanmukhadas, film critic, Prasannakumar T.N., film activist, Shafeek, journalist and Deepak, filmmaker and film society activist- were participating in a peaceful protest on February 11 at Thrissur, Kerala, along with many others, outside the venue of the Vibgyor Film Festival 2013 against the concept of capital punishment and the summary execution of Afzal Guru. The peaceful protest which lasted for an hour, in no way disturbed public order or caused communal unrest. For this act of democratic expression, these fraudulent and trumped charges have been filed against them.
It is indeed shocking that the Kerala police should deny citizens their basic right to peacefully protest against the death penalty, which 97 nations across the world have abolished. As per Amnesty International data, over 2/3 of the countries of the world (140) are now “abolitionist in law or practice”. In India, there has been an alarming resurgence of the death penalty, which needs to be questioned and protested against by all those who stand for social justice and human rights. This crude act of intimidation by the state needs to be condemned by all and we urge you to ensure that the Kerala police to withdraw these false and malicious charges immediately.
Anand Patwardhan, Filmmaker, Mumbai
Anjali Monteiro, TISS, Mumbai
K.P. Jayasankar, TISS, Mumbai
Nivedita Menon, JNU, New Delhi
Rahul Roy, Filmmaker, New Delhi
Saba Dewan, Filmmaker, New Delhi
Shilpa Phadke, TISS, Mumbai
Shohini Ghosh, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Amar Kanwar, Filmmaker, New Delhi
Ajay Bhardwaj, Filmmaker, New Delhi
Anivar Aravind, IT Engineer, Bangalore
Bishaldeb Halder, TISS, Mumbai
Charu Gargi, Filmmaker, Estonia
Lynne Henry, Filmmaker, Mumbai
P Baburaj, Film maker, Trivandrum
Pankaj Rishi Kumar, Filmmaker, Mumbai
Rakesh Sharma, Filmmaker, Mumbai-Goa
Sanjay Mohan, Journalist, New Delhi
Shoba V. Ghosh, Mumbai University
Suma Josson, Filmmaker, Mumbai
Vivek Monteiro, Trade Unionist, Mumbai
Yousuf Saeed, Filmmaker, New Delhi.
KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006 
Congress, traditionally, is very fond of totalitarianism. Emergency runs in the veins of Congressmen. It gets into top-gear once an issue concerns minorities, specially, Muslims. Many times they behave worst then BJP/RSS regimes.
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I know only KP Sasi among them. Hope they are not in jail and that the charges are ‘withdrawn’ soon. To charge people peacefully demonstrating against the death penalty is so absurd.
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Vague laws criminalising obstruction,causing danger,deterring public servant etc. are made to be used when no real offence has been committed but the police want to teach a lesson to citizens.Even the govt.may not be able to withdraw such a case – the UP govt.could not do so even when a commission of enquiry found the accused innocent (one of them died later while returning in police custody from a court appearance).
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to dissent and protest constitutes the backbone of a participatory democracy, such acts of the state against protestors reaffirms that the Indian state is an autocratic regime clothe in a democratic jacket. down with state athoritarianism.
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Reblogged this on bhaskarOnlne.
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